Menu

Clashes in Mardan University

A student lost his life while five others were injured on Thursday during a clash at Abdul Wali Khan University in Mardan. According to a friend of the deceased, a group of students first shot him in the chest and head accusing him of blasphemy and then desecrated his body with sticks. Several arrests have been made and the University has been closed for an indefinite period.
To uphold the honour of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) a law was promulgated in 80s providing death penalty for anyone found guilty of defaming the Holy Prophet (PBUH). There is absolutely no justification to take the law into one’s own hand when a proper law on the subject is in place. If a person committed blasphemy then FIR should have been lodged and evidence presented before the court of law to get perpetrator of the crime punished. But the tendency of awarding death sentence by a mob is fraught with serious consequences and must be discouraged at all costs. There are already complaints that the law is misused and often innocent people are targeted, prompting its opponents to plead for its abrogation. The university administration has closed down the institution in the backdrop of heightened tension and possibility of more clashes but it is for the police and administration to investigate the incident and take stern action against those involved in this extra-judicial murder.